Noticing
by HinarriMeki
Summary: Chase tries to be glad Adam hasn't noticed how Chase feels about his adoptive brother, but even Adam won't stay oblivious forever... This is Adam/Chase so warnings for gay incest.


No matter how much grief he gave his brother over it, there were times Chase was glad Adam wasn't the brightest bulb.

The first time they heard the school bell ring and Chase ended up cowering close to Adam, waiting for Adam to make things better like he always did, except he didn't realize Chase thought that way.

The multiple times—because they did seem to keep happening—when Adam got scared and jumped into Chase's arms and, despite being so close, didn't notice that Chase's heartbeat jumped into overdrive, and not from fear; he hadn't even noticed the younger boy's increased heartbeat when they'd been paralyzed and stuck lying for hours with Adam's head on Chase's chest.

The time Adam declared that "Chase and pudding" was a combination he'd never thought of before, and all he noticed was Chase slapping his hand away, not how Chase was blushing and wouldn't look at Adam afterwards.

All the times the two boys were talking and laughing and hanging out, and Chase lost the thread of the conversation because Adam had just casually thrown his arm around Chase's shoulders, or his smile turned sad, or he just stared at Adam with his eyes full of the things he could never say…

…and Adam never noticed.

Never noticed any of it. Never noticed Chase had fallen in love with him.

And that was a good thing, because Chase didn't want him to know. He didn't want anyone to know, but Adam especially.

Chase couldn't remember much about life before being a Lab Rat, but he did know he and Adam and Bree weren't siblings by blood; they'd been living together for so long, though, that he knew the other two thought of them that way—and so did everyone else. Add in the fact that they were both boys, how much control Davenport liked to have over his "creations' " lives, and his warnings against getting too emotional lest they glitch… all in all, Chase was certain that his feelings would not be received well.

But it wasn't the thought of getting yelled at by Davenport or looked at weirdly by the kids at school that really made him so determined to hide his feeling; he could take those things.

But he would never be able to bear having Adam think he was a creep, looking at him in disgust and confusion, ending their close friendship.

If he ever let Adam know what he meant to Chase, he would lose the very thing that meant so much to him. And the only thing worse than the thought of going through life without Adam's sweet, steady, protective presence by his side was the thought of Adam hating him.

Which was why Chase was never going to let Adam know how he felt.

~~~/~~~/~~~

Adam was worried. Something was up with Chase, and the younger boy wouldn't tell him what it was.

"Hey, Chase!" Adam called, walking into the lab. "What're you watching?"

"I was just seeing if the latest Pig Zombies movie is any better than the rest—you know how much Leo and Mr. Davenport love them—but it's really stupid, and I have homework I should be doing anyway."

Chase got up and walked away; a moment later Adam heard the sound of the elevator whisking him upstairs.

Adam sighed. Earlier he had been upstairs and Chase had claimed he had something to do in the lab when Adam tried to talk to him; now he was leaving the lab just when Adam came down.

And Chase hated Pig Zombie movies, and loved homework; why would he even bother watching something he hated instead of doing something he liked?

No, it was obvious; Chase was avoiding him, something that was become increasingly common. The question was: why?

Lately he looked upset all the time, too, and always tried to cover it up with a smile. Chase was always like that; he tried to be calm all the time, and when he got too emotional, he started hiding what he was thinking and feeling. Adam was the opposite, and wished Chase would be the same way, sometimes.

Not that he wanted Chase to change; he loved his brother just as he was.

He just also hated to see him hurting, especially when there was nothing Adam could do to help him.

~~~/~~~/~~~

"Hey, Adam, there you are!" Leo called cheerfully, walking into the lab. "There's this awesome carnival that just got into town, and I _have_ to take you guys to it, 'cause you've totally never been to one before and they're only the coolest places ever!"

Adam didn't even look up from where he was sitting slumped onto a countertop, head resting on his arms.

"Sounds fun," he said, sounding like he couldn't care less.

"Carnival. Awesome. Fun. Are you hearing any of this?"

"Yeah, I'm hearing it," Adam said sadly.

"Are you okay?"

The bionic teen heaved a big sigh.

"No. I think Chase is mad at me, and I don't know why."

Leo fixed Adam with a stern look.

"Did you borrow and break his e-pod again?"

"No!" Adam sat up, waving his hands in exasperation, "I didn't even touch his e-pod! I didn't do anything." He slumped back down on the counter, adding, "I couldn't have; he's been avoiding me. I guess he just hates me."

Leo looked at Adam disbelievingly.

"Dude, you do know he's totally crushing on you, right?"

Adam looked up, shocked.

"What?"

Then the rest of what he had said filtered into Leo's brain.

"Wait—avoiding you? What else made you think he hated you?"

"Well he won't let me hug him or even high-five him or anything anymore; he won't even look at me. And he gets all upset when I talk to him. What did you say about him having a crush on me?"

"Did I say that? I didn't say that, 'cause that's totally not how someone acts when he's got a crush on someone and doesn't want to show it, which Chase wouldn't, if he had a crush on you, which he so doesn't!"

Leo grinned hugely at Adam, who stared back like he wasn't sure what language the younger boy was speaking.

"…You said something about a carnival?" was all he finally asked.

~~~/~~~/~~~

Chase had to admit, the carnival was really fun, even if his super-intelligence did have him calculating just how unsafe all the rides were; that didn't stop the others from dragging him onto them, and he had to agree when Adam declared that cotton candy was the greatest invention in the history of all mankind.

That was another nice thing about the carnival; he, Adam and Bree were so caught up in this exciting taste of normalcy that it was easy for Chase to lose himself in the fun and pretend that this was just like old times, when they were goofing around in the lab and he hadn't yet realized how he felt about Adam.

"Okay, _now_ can we go on the Ferris wheel?" Adam begged for the tenth time that night as they meandered through the crowd, munching onion rings and corndogs.

"We just got food!" Leo protested around a mouthful of onion rings. "And these are like, the greasiest, most awesome onion rings in the world!"

"And I _told_ you," Bree protested. "I am not going up on that thing. It's slow enough for me to _notice_ how high up it is. Besides, I need to win more of these adorable little guys!"

She hugged her armful of stuffed animals happily.

Adam turned big puppy-dog-eyes on Chase.

"Come on, it'll be no fun alone! You'll come with me, won't you?"

Chase tore his gaze away from those big eyes, knowing he'd be helpless otherwise. Why couldn't Leo have waited just a bit longer to get food? Why hadn't Chase eaten more slowly so he could use that as an excuse not to go on a ride alone with Adam?

"I don't really…" he began, but Adam was already grabbing his hand with candy-sticky fingers—Chase was glad the darkness and fluorescent lights hid his flush—and dragging him away.

"See you guys later!" the tall teen called cheerfully.

Chase looked back desperately and saw Leo open his mouth to say something, but then the crowd swallowed them up.

Chase was going to have to talk to Adam when they got home about using his super strength automatically, because no matter how he tried, the younger teen couldn't get his hand free of Adam's until they were in line for the Ferris wheel. Not that he tried as hard as he wanted to—not that part of him didn't want Adam to keep holding his hand—but he was certain people were staring at them as it was.

He finally managed to get free, and started pulling out of line.

"I don't really want to go on the Ferris wheel, Adam; I mean, it's a giant wheel that goes around and around. It's not all that exciting."

Adam grabbed his arm; Chase tried to focus on being annoyed at the other teen getting cotton candy threads on his jacket.

"Oh come on, the line's going really fast! Look, we're almost there already!"

"But—"

And yet somehow, the next thing Chase knew, he was scrunched into a tiny metal car, while rickety machinery creakily lifted them farther and farther away from the ground.

Adam was sitting so close to him he could feel the heat radiating from the other teen.

Chase tried to focus on the view, desperately looking anywhere but at Adam. It seemed like the wheel was turning more slowly with every passing second.

They were three quarters of the way to the top when Adam broke the silence.

"Chase—you like me, don't you?"

"Of course I like you," Chase said, stomach flip-flopping as he wondered where this was going. There was no way Adam could have started noticing, could he?

"How much do you like me?"

Chase couldn't classify the tone of Adam's voice, but he too afraid of giving himself away to look at his adoptive brother; he turned his face as far toward the view over the edge of the car as he could.

"I don't know." He tried to sound casual. "A lot, I guess. You're my brother."

"Oh." Adam was silent for a while. "Cause Leo says you like me. You know, like like me."

Chase could feel himself turning red. He tried to swallow, but his mouth seemed too dry to be able to.

"I-I," he croaked. "That's—"

He couldn't get any further.

"I actually thought it was kinda stupid."

Chase suddenly couldn't breathe; he felt like Adam had punched him in the gut using his full super-strength.

"I mean, it was totally staring me in the face this whole time, and it took Leo to point it out; I guess 'cause he's new, so he's the only one who doesn't automatically see us as brothers—"

Chase was trying not to start gulping at the lump in his throat; his eyes were stinging. The Ferris wheel creaked up to its highest point.

"—but anyway, it's so stupid that it took Leo to point out how much I wanted to do this."

And apparently Adam did know how to not use his super-strength, because his hand was incredibly gentle as he turned Chase's face toward him and lightly pressed his lips to Chase's.

It was over in an instant, and then Chase was simply staring at Adam, his thoughts at a complete halt for once.

"Hey." Adam frowned. "Are you crying?"

He brushed the backs of his fingers—still gentle—under Chase's watering eyes.

"Chase?"

The younger teen couldn't seem to do anything but stare.

"Chase? …oh no, was Leo wrong? I'm sorry; I thought—"

Chase finally broke free of his paralysis, hooking his hands behind Adam's neck and pulling him into another kiss.

When they broke apart once more, Chase smiled shyly at Adam.

"Leo wasn't wrong," he muttered, blushing as Adam twined his fingers through Chase's. "But I thought you'd think it wasn't right. You know, because we're both boys, and everyone thinks we're brothers…"

Adam shrugged, completely unfazed.

"I don't care what everyone thinks. I just know I love you."

Chase flushed further at Adam's straightforward admission, but he was smiling too.

No matter how much grief he gave the other teen, there were times he was glad Adam didn't over-think things like Chase did.

And this was definitely one of them.


End file.
